Your career

A university education is the perfect foundation to any career, helping to show that you have already made a commitment to your chosen vocation, and that you have gained the knowledge needed to underpin your working life. Students who have gained a degree are more likely to be offered a job, and many employers still require degree level education as standard.

With our wide range of courses, Sussex Downs College can help you to choose a course suitable to your career path, and give you the support and encouragement needed to succeed.

Student support and services for university students

A supportive environment

Working in partnership with the University of Brighton we have an extensive support network and offer an extremely high standard of teaching. We keep lectures small and focused. We are committed to meeting the individual needs of our students, both in lectures and through one to one sessions with your lecturer.

By studying close to home you are already learning in a community and environment in which you feel comfortable, and at a much lower financial cost than leaving home and living on a university campus.

See what specialist facilities we have

Work experience

The college has several vocational units so you will be hands on in these aspects of your subject, learning practical skills using the college’s state-of-the-art facilities and working with local employers. Sussex Downs College has strong relationships with the local community and can help support you when trying to find work experience in your chosen industry.

Case Study: Foundation degree students work with Care for the Carers

Care for the Carers supports unpaid carers, who look after family or friends and has helped carers to improve their quality of life for over 20 years.

Foundation Degree students who are studying Person Centred Counselling did practical work placements with the charity as part of their studies, enabling local carers to access much needed counselling for free.

Students from Sussex Downs College have been invaluable, working with our clients to provide that all important support and giving a real lifeline to carers in their time of need. This type of placement forms an invaluable part of the learning process for our students.
Liz Fenton, Chief Executive

Visiting speakers

At Sussex Downs College we invite speakers from the industry to come and share their knowledge and experiences with you. This ensures that you have an up-to-date and work-related view of your chosen field. In addition, students have visited conferences in Paris and Lisbon and have been involved in exhibitions shown in leading art galleries.

Develop transferable skills

Our courses are an excellent way to develop skills in handling information, writing reports, working alone and in teams, handling numbers and analysing complex information.

Career planning

All of our courses include a Career Planning Agreement and include activities that encourage you to analyse your interests and skills and to match them with possible career options. The university Careers Centre provides specialist support.

After you finish your course

After completion of your course, you may be able to progress onto a one-year topup degree to gain a full honours degree, or you can head straight for work. At Sussex Downs College we deliver the BA(Hons) top-up degree in Digital Media Design and BA(Hons) top-up degree in Music Production and Creative Recording. Sussex Downs College students have progressed to a range of careers in their chosen industries.

Student Profile

Name: Sam Scaife
Age: 21
Studying: FDA digital media design

I knew that I wanted to work in the Digital Media industry but I did not know what I wanted to specialize in. I felt this course would allow me to take my work to the next level while helping me to find a specialty. The teaching staff are really great the course is more practical than I was expecting. I like being able to work with different software to develop different skills.

During my first year I was involved with the Impulse street dance group which was really good fun and fitted in with my studies well. Having a student loan is great and it means you can really focus on developing your work without having to worry about getting a job. I have still not made up my mind what I will do when I graduate.

At the moment I think I will take a year out of education and try work in the Digital industry.

Find out about college lIfe at Sussex Downs